A defence of 'releasing information in the interests of public safety' could be available to people charged with contempt of court, the Law Commission has suggested following the furore over last year’s Southport murders. In a supplementary consultation to its proposals for reforming contempt laws, the commission today invites views on a broader form of public interest defence.
The paper says that two questions arise out of last summer’s attacks and the subsequent violent disorder, which has been widely blamed on police reluctance to release information about killer Axel Rudakubana. These are: the extent to which misinformation and disinformation can be countered by a public authority without risking liability for contempt of court; and whether there are circumstances that would justify the publication of information that would otherwise come within scope of contempt of court liability.
The commission’s consultation paper last year provisionally proposed retaining a form of public interest defence and invited suggestions on what form that defence should take. However the new paper says the defence, under section 5 of the Contempt of Court At 1981 ‘lacks clarity in some respects’.
It provisionally proposes that there should be a defence which ensures that public discussion of matters of public interest is 'not unnecessarily or disproportionately restricted where proceedings are active'. Stressing that a broader public interest defence ‘cannot be considered in isolation from the right to a fair trial’ the paper notes that a trial may potentially be prejudiced by information whether it is true or false. 'It does not follow that “correcting the record” also inexorably undoes any prejudicial effect; you may simply swap one prejudicial effect with another.'
The supplementary consultation closes on 31 March.
No comments yet